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An Assessment of Online Consumption Trends in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Jouchi Nakajima

    (Bank of Japan)

  • Masato Takahashi

    (Bank of Japan)

  • Tomoyuki Yagi

    (Bank of Japan)

Abstract

Online consumption in Japan has increased significantly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many issues remain unclear, such as what kind of households have increased their online consumption and whether the increase in online consumption is temporary or highly persistent. In this paper, we provide an empirical analysis of online consumption trends during the pandemic, using (i) granular tailor-made data from the Survey of Household Economy by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and (ii) aggregated figures computed from transaction data from "Money Forward ME," the personal financial management service provided by Money Forward, Inc. Our empirical results based on these datasets up to December 2020 show that online consumption in Japan increased among a wide range of age and income groups, that many households engaged in online consumption for the first time during the pandemic, and that most of these households continued to engage in online consumption. While it should be noted that the results are based on a limited observation period, they suggest that the increase in online consumption likely is highly persistent. If such changes in household behavior are indeed highly persistent, they may have important implications for Japan's economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jouchi Nakajima & Masato Takahashi & Tomoyuki Yagi, "undated". "An Assessment of Online Consumption Trends in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 22-E-11, Bank of Japan.
    • Handle: RePEc:boj:bojwps:wp22e11
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online Consumption; COVID-19; Alternative Data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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